1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system and method for performing regulatory compliance testing on a gaming machine at one, or at many locations, with associated its casino system at another location.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior Art regulatory compliance testing systems require that the gaming device being testing be at the same physical location as the casino system that operates with it. The term “casino system” can comprise a number of different software driven systems that might typically include an accounting software system, player tracking system, promotional system, ticketing system, lottery system, content server system, server-based system, etc. . . . or any other type of software the gaming machine needs to interact with. This approach, however, has a number of significant disadvantages. In particular, it requires the manufacturer to physically transport the machine to the test location. That can be expensive and may produce damage to the machine. Also, the ability to test the gaming machine at a specific location will be, of necessity, limited by the testing equipment at that physical location. Multiple testing locations also lend themselves to greater security concerns. Lastly, there are a number of inefficiencies built into having multiple independent test sites.
It was in this context that an effort was made to determine the feasibility of remotely testing gaming equipment, such as slot machines and video games, from remote locations wherein the video game is located at a first location and its associated casino system is located at a separate physical location which could be another jurisdiction, another state, or even another country. Remote testing, however, is not an easy task. Gaming machines have to be rigorously tested against various gaming scripts; the system has to be absolutely secure; and, the interaction between the gaming machine and the accounting system has to be seamless and operate as though, in fact, the gaming machine and the accounting system were in the same physical location.
Remote testing of non-gaming equipment, such as scientific devices, is known in other arts but is not employed in the gaming industry because of the high level of complexity involved. The present invention described in detail in this disclosure, was recently recognized as one of the most innovative concepts in the gaming industry. See, in particular, “Celebrating The 20 Most Innovative Gaming Products Of The Last Year” in the May 2010 edition of Casino Journal, page 27 and “GLIlink Earns Top Spot on Top 20 List” on page 8 of Slot Manager Magazine May/June 2010.